The Craziest Year Hogwarts Has Ever Seen
by bornreader
Summary: Three mysterious people suddenly show up to Hogwarts and things you never thought would or should happen take place. The year is full of romance, angst, and an old friend returning. Set in 5th year. Cowritten by luckyducky2005
1. Chapter 1

Dumbledore watched as two strangers walked onto the snowy Hogwarts grounds with awe on their faces. He studied the two girls as they slowly walked to the oak doors, carrying their trunks. The Professor cast a quick locking charm on the front doors. He chuckled softly as the younger girl banged on the door. His heart stopped for a second when he watched the two blonds pull out their wands and cast an unlocking charm. The girls flashed smiles at each other and walked into the enormous castle.

"Hello, ladies, are you two lost?" Dumbledore asked. The older girl smiled and held out her hand.

"No, I don't believe so, unless this isn't Hogwarts," she said as he shook her hand. "My name is Danielle Rodgers and this is my cousin, Sara Giustini. We are foreign exchange students from the United States of America. By the look on your face, the papers haven't arrived yet, have they?"

Right then, an owl swooped down and dropped a heavy chunk of parchment at Dumbledore's feet.

"Oh, here they are, now. I'm sorry, the owl must have gotten lost," Danielle explained. Dumbledore glanced at the papers.

"Everything seems to be in order here, welcome to Hogwarts. Tomorrow, the fifteenth of November, you will be sorted into your new house. For now, you will sleep in Professor McGonagall's and my guest chambers. Follow me, and I hope you enjoy Hogwarts."

Dumbledore led the ladies to his office. He sat down behind his desk and handed the girls a map of Hogwarts.

"In red are Professor McGonagall's and my offices, in blue are the classrooms, and in green are the common rooms. It doesn't matter whose guest quarters you choose. Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah," Sara spoke up. "What are quarters? In America they are thin pieces of metal that are worth 25 cents."

"Oh, so sorry, quarters are like bedrooms. Any other questions?" After no one spoke up, he continued. "Ok, I'll send you both a copy of Hogwarts, a History so you can learn about the four houses."

"Thank you sir, so very much. But, what are the four houses called?" Danielle asked.

"Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin."

"Slytherin, sounds like a snake. Cool, I love snakes." Dumbledore looked into Sara's eyes. Sara got a strong feeling of foreboding. "I'm hungry. Where do we get some food around here?" she asked, trying to get him to look away. It worked.

"The Great Hall, dinner is still going on. Have a good time. Curfew is 9 PM on weeknight and 10 on weekends, so you sill have 4 hours left, take a look around." Dumbledore glanced at Sara again, but she was looking away.

"Thanks, we're gonna get something to eat now. Goodbye, sir," Danielle said while walking out the door.

When the girls were far enough away from the office, Sara spoke out. "I don't like him. He's creepy."

"Why do you think that?" Danielle asked curiously.

"He kept staring at me when I said I liked snakes."

"So? Snakes probably mean something different here."

"There's more, though. When he looked into my eyes, I got this really weird feeling. And that twinkle in his eyes is really creepy."

"So? I'm sure there are a lot of people here like that."

"I don't think so, I didn't feel like that when we passed some people."

"Oh, well, let's just eat," Danielle said as they arrived at the Great Hall.

They walked into the great hall and were amazed at the sight. There were hundreds of students and four very long tables.

"Where do we sit?" Danielle asked.

"Uh...anywhere for now. I'm going to sit with that group of people over there," Sara said as she spotted a group of students who were wearing green.

Danielle looked around for a few minutes before seeing there was an empty seat at a table next to the one Sara went to and headed for it.

"Excuse me, but is anyone sitting here?" She asked a guy with messy, black hair and the prettiest green eyes she ever saw.

"No," he said. Danielle sat down and began to help herself to the large display of food. She looked over at the table next to one she was sitting at to see how Sara was fairing with the people she was sitting with. Danielle was glad to see that Sara was laughing and getting along well with who she was sitting with, especially a guy with blonde hair that was slicked back.

It was when Danielle returned her eyes to her table that she realized she was being stared at. "What?" she asked.

"Who are you?" the redhead who was sitting next to the black haired kid asked.

"Ron, that was rude!" a girl with bushy hair said.

"It's all right. I'm sure I stick out like a sore thumb. My name's Danielle and I just transferred with my cousin, Sara, from the United States."

The black hair kid spoke up, "I'm Harry, and these are my two friends Ron and Hermione."

"Where's your cousin at if she came with you?" Hermione asked.

"She's sitting at that table over there," Danielle said and pointed at the one next to theirs.

They looked to where she was pointing and were surprised at what they saw.

"Is she nuts?" Ron asked.

"Why? What's up?" Danielle asked.

"Nothing, forget it," Harry said and the four of them went back to eating their dinner.

At the Slytherin table

Sara walked up to a guy with white blond hair and asked if she could sit there. He stared at her with cold grey eyes.

"Uh, hello? Can I _sit_ here?" Sara asked impatiently. The blond got out of his trance.

"Oh, sorry, it's just, who _are _you?" he asked. Sara flashed her prettiest smile that made all the guys weak in America and sat beside him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I guess I haven't introduced myself, now have I? My name is Sara Giustini, I'm a foreign exchange student from America. I just got here a little bit ago," she stated in a pretty little voice. All the guys around her were stupefied by her actions. She knew she still had it.

"Well, are you pure-blood?" the guy to her left asked.

"Of course. What else would I be, muggle-born?" she asked in a horrified, slightly scared voice. No one noticed her fidgeting.

"Good," the blonde said.

"What's your name?" Sara asked him.

"Draco Malfoy. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said slightly out of breath.

"What's the matter, out of breath?"

"No, I just, need to, uh, cough," Draco said.

"Oh, well that's good, I was a little worried that you were attracted to me. I mean, why would I go out with some one who slicks their hair back like that, grow it out a little longer and you'd probably look like a chick," Sara said jokingly. Everyone at the table laughed including Sara and Draco.

"So, Sara, what house do you think you'll be in?" the guy to her left asked, already liking her.

"Um, I dunno. What are the houses like?" she asked in response.

Malfoy answered her. "Well, the four houses are Slytherin, our house, Ravenclaw, the 'know-it-alls', Hufflepuff, the worthless ones, and Gryffindor, the snob imbeciles. Harry **Potter** and the rest of the _Golden_ Trio are in that house." Malfoy spat out Harry's last name.

"Well, what's this house like?" Sara asked.

"We are the sly, cunning ones. Professor Snape is our head of house. We'll be cool with you if you're in our house or Ravenclaw."

"Why not Gryffindor, though?" she questioned.

"Because Gryffindors are stupid '**_brave_** people. We hate them. We are complete opposites."

"Oh, I understand. I don't think I'll be a Gryffindor, I'm pretty sure I'll either be in here, or Ravenclaw." Sara finished her dinner. "I'm gonna go meet up with my cousin, now. Nice to meet all of you, especially you, Draco. Goodbye," she said. Sara left the table and walked over to Danielle.

"Hey, we still got a few hours left, wanna do a snowball fight?" Sara asked her cousin.

"I don't think so, Sara, we start classes tomorrow," Danielle complained.

"Fine, I'm sure I would win anyways. In fact, how about I challenge you to a snowball fight?" she said slyly, knowing her cousin wouldn't turn down a challenge.

"You're on. Whoever wins gets to prank the other person for two whole days with no objection from the losing person."

"Fine." Sara and Danielle raced outside.

Unbeknownst to them the entire Great Hall had been watching and listening to them. They all seemed to have collectively decided that a snowball fight would be fun and proceeded outside.

The Slytherins joined Sara, while the Gryffindors joined Danielle. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs divided themselves evenly among the two teams. Thus the snowball fight commenced.

There were snowballs being thrown in every direction and sometimes someone would hit their own teammate in the head by accident. It seemed to go back and forth for hours. At one point Sara and the Slytherins seemed to be winning, but then Danielle and the Gryffindors pulled ahead. Now it seemed that they were both equal because no one was dominating another.

There was an hour left until curfew, so everyone decided to call it a draw. Most of the students went back into the Great Hall to get their fill of hot chocolate and trying to warm themselves and get the feeling back in their fingers.

Sara grabbed a hot chocolate and sat far away from everyone, still shivering. She felt out of place, especially away from home on her birthday, she was glad her cousin was here with her at least. Sara left to her own little world, not noticing the blond boy coming up behind her.

"Hey, Sara," he said. Sara jumped, thinking she was alone. She started shivering again. "Here, take my cloak." Draco wrapped the cloak around Sara and sat down beside her. "Are you okay? You were sort of out of it."

"I'm fine, it's just that it's all so new to me, I miss my home and the worst part is I'm here and I can't celebrate my birthday with my mum. I miss her so much."

"It's your birthday?" he waited as she nodded her head. "Wow, it must be tough being far away on your birthday." Draco noticed that Sara was shivering still and wrapped an arm around her to try to warm her up.

"It is hard; I just need to stay strong." Sara looked up into his grey eyes. "Oh, why did you hit me with that snowball? I know you did it on purpose."

"No! I swear I didn't!" he said with a smirk. Before either realized what happened they were closer together making out.

with Danielle

Danielle sat beside Harry, sipping hot chocolate while listening to Ron and Hermione rant. She grew curious as she noticed she couldn't find Sara. She looked around the room, not looking behind her. Danielle grew even more worried when she didn't find Sara. She looked behind her at a corner where Sara and Draco sat there kissing.

"I can't believe her!" Danielle busted out. Ron and Hermione stopped fighting and looked at her. "Oh, sorry, but my cousin hasn't even been here for one day, and she's already making out with somebody!" Danielle exclaimed.

"Oh, so she's like the Lavender Brown of America, then?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione! I can't believe you said that about her!" Ron yelled.

"What?" she asked innocently. Hermione smirked.

"Who's Lavender Brown?" Danielle asked, now curious.

"Oh, just the slut of the castle," Hermione stated. Harry snorted at her words. Ron looked horrified.

"Take that back!"

"No! Never! Face it, Ron, it's true, she is a slut and that's the only reason you're dating her!"

"Uh, I'm gonna go now," Danielle told Harry.

"I don't blame you."

Danielle left the Great Hall for Professor McGonagall's office.

back with Sara and Draco

Sara pulled apart from Draco, breathing heavily.

"Oh, Merlin, you're amazing," Draco said. Sara blushed heavily.

"I don't know what came over me," she whispered to herself. "Um, I got to go, Draco. I need to get some sleep," she said as she started to take off the cloak.

"No, keep it. Just remember this moment. Happy Birthday," he said as she got up and left the Great Hall.

"Wow, my day just got a whole lot better. This is the best birthday ever," Sara said as she went to Professor Dumbledore's office. "A very happy birthday."

On the way to Dumbledore's office Sara ran into Danielle.

"Hey," Danielle said as Sara began to walk with her. "What are you so smiley about?"

"I made out with Draco Malfoy," Sara said.

"Oh, yeah. I noticed that. What were you thinking! We've only been here for four hours and you're already kissing someone!"

"I know, but I'm homesick and he made me feel better. It's hard to be away from home, especially on my birthday," Sara said.

Danielle sighed realizing this would be harder on her because she's younger. "You're right. I'm sorry. I just don't want people to have the wrong impression of you the first day we're here. I'm glad you found a friend at least."

They reached the end of the hallway where they would have to go in separate directions to get to their guest quarters.

"Let's meet here in the morning so we can go into the Great Hall together," Sara said.

"OK," Danielle replied. "Happy Birthday, cuz."

They went their separate ways and went to bed. They fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.


	2. Chapter 2

Morning came quickly and they met where they departed the night before. They walked into the Great Hall nervous and anxious for the sorting ceremony.

Dumbledore noticed them and stood to begin the ceremony.

Everyone in the Great Hall was talking. Danielle sat with the Gryffindors again and Sara sat with the Slytherins. Sara was chatting and flirting with Draco.

The talking ceased as Dumbledore stood. "Ahem. As I'm sure most of you now know, we have two foreign exchange students here from America. Today they will be sorted into their new houses. Sara Giustini, please come forward."

Sara slowly stood up as Draco rubbed her back. She gave him a weak smile as she proceeded to the teachers table.

"Danielle Rodgers, please join Miss Giustini." Danielle did so. The two girls waited as Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat in front of the whole school for the second time that year.

"Are you scared, Sara?" Danielle asked.

"I'm just scared of what people will say when I get sorted."

"It's okay, me too."

"Miss Giustini, you first, please," Dumbledore stated. Sara walked up to the hat and placed it on her head. The hat took several minutes deciding.

_"Hmm...this is a difficult choice. You have the brains for Ravenclaw but you are very cunning. Where to place you? Definitely not Gryffindor of Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Hmm..."_

_You better put me in a house in five seconds or I'm gonna burn you, _Sara thought. _One, two, three, four..._

"Slytherin!" the hat shouted at the last second. Sara smiled smugly as she took off the hat. When she sat down next to Draco again, he kissed her on the cheek.

"Miss Rodgers."

Danielle stepped up and placed the hat on her head. Danielle listened to the hat arguing with itself.

_"Where to put you? Your cousin was just as hard until she threatened me." _Danielle chuckled at the thought. _"Hmm... You are defiantly a brave one, but oh so smart. Ravenclaw or Gryffindor? Hmm. I know! _**Gryffindor**!"

Danielle walked back to where she was sitting and smiled. The food suddenly appeared and everyone dove into it. During breakfast, Sara looked over at her cousin and gave her a thumbs up.

Once breakfast was over Professor McGonagall went over to the Slytherin table to give Sara her timetable. Then she went to the Gryffindor table to give Danielle hers. It turned out that the fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors had Potions together first thing.

Danielle had wanted to go walk to class with her cousin, but there were so many Slytherins surrounding her that she figured she'd talked to Sara before class started.

She arrived at the dungeons with Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Shortly after that the Slytherins showed up. Danielle went over to talk to Sara.

"Hey, congrats!" Danielle said, trying to ignore the fact that she had several Slytherins giving her evil glares.

"You too. This is so exciting!"

"I know..." Danielle was interrupted by Draco.

"Do you mind leaving us and going back to your kind!"

"I was just talking with my cousin," Danielle replied. Draco was about to say something in reply when the door opened.

The class filed into the room with Sara sitting with the Slytherins and Danielle sitting with the Gryffindors.

Harry, who was sitting on her right, saw that she looked bugged at what Draco said and whispered, "It's all right. Just leave her go. There's always been a rivalry between us and the Slytherins."

Danielle sighed and nodded. She realized that there had to be this huge rivalry for her to be treated that way, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Potions slowly progressed with Sara and Draco having the best potion. As usual, Professor Snape insulted all of the Gryffindors except Hermione and Danielle, whom were working together. When the bell rang, all of the Gryffindors rushed out of the room with the Slytherins following. Danielle waited for Sara, hoping the Slytherins wouldn't say anything. Danielle caught Sara with Draco and stopped the two.

"I'll be there in a minute, Draco," Sara said before he could say anything to Danielle. He huffed and kissed her cheek saying a goodbye. "Hey, sorry about earlier. Draco forgets that we're related. I yelled at him for it."

"It's okay. I found out that Slytherins usually hate Gryffindors anyway," Danielle said while walking through the halls. She was surprised when she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione waiting for her. "Hey, what are you all doing?" she asked.

"We were just waiting for you incase anything happened," Harry explained. Ron stared at Sara with disgust written clearly on his face.

"What!" Sara yelled at Ron.

"Why are you here, shouldn't you be with you _boyfriend_?"

"I can hang with my friends can't I?"

"But you're a Slytherin," Ron retorted.

"So? Just because I'm a Slytherin I can't hang out with my cousin? Now I see why Draco and the rest of the Slytherins hate you!"

"Sara," Danielle warned.

"He started it!" Sara complained. Everyone laughed except for Ron.

"So, how did you like Potions?" Hermione asked the two family members.

"It was okay, but Professor Snape seems a little mean to Gryffindors," Danielle explained.

"I think he's a really good teacher," Sara said. Harry's, Ron's, and Hermione's mouths dropped at the same time.

"Are you insane? Snape? A good teacher!" Ron blurted out.

"Yeah, he just leaves us to do the potion. He uses trial and error, one of the best ways to learn," Sara said. She then spotted Draco ahead. "I'm gonna go now, I'm meeting up with Draco."

"Yes, go to your stupid little _boyfriend_," Ron said, not knowing Draco heard. Draco lost his cool then and attacked.

"Ron!"

"Draco!"

Draco had pounced on Ron and was throwing in as many punches as he could. Ron was holding his own though because he had older brothers who would constantly wrestle with him.

Draco was on top of Ron and Sara and Harry were trying to pry him off of Ron. Finally after a lot of struggling, they succeeded in pulling Draco off of Ron.

Sara went to check on Draco to make sure he was all right and Hermione did the same thing with Ron. Neither boy was hurt badly, just a few bruises that could be healed with a spell.

Draco stepped forward, ready to go at it again. "I don't want to hear you say anything like that again or I'll make you pay, and your friends won't be here to save you."

"Stay away from me and I won't have a reason to," growled Ron.

"C'mon, Sara, let's go," Draco said as he pulled on her arm. Sara turned and gave her cousin a look that clearly said she was sorry she couldn't stay longer.

They waved at each other before Sara and Draco disappeared down the corridor.

Draco dragged Sara away from her cousin. Once they reached the Great Hall, Sara started yelling at Draco.

"Draco! I can't believe you! How dare you! You could have gotten hurt! You could have been expelled! You will apologize to Ron and Danielle for what you did."

"Whoa, wait up a second. I'm **not **apologizing to Ron! And why do I have to apologize to Danielle!"

"Because you were rude to her and she's my cousin! You **will **apologize to her! If you don't I won't be talking to you! I don't really care if you apologize to Ron, but remember that I'm in Slytherin and I **can **take care of myself. Understand?" she waited for a response. "**Understand**?"

"Yes, fine. So, you have transfiguration next, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good, let's go." Draco grabbed Sara's hand and raced off for Transfiguration class. He stopped abruptly at the door, which was still closed. "Oh, and I really am sorry," he said as she ran into him. He caught her before she fell. "I'm touched you care, though." He leaned in for a quick kiss before going into the classroom.

After Transfiguration Sara dragged Draco with her as she walked to Herbology, which she knew Danielle had as well. Sara spotted Danielle with Ron, Hermione, and Harry and ran to catch up to her.

"Hey," Sara said.

"Hi. What's up?" Danielle asked as see saw Draco walk towards them. She was afraid another fight would break out.

"Nothing," Sara replied. "Draco just has something to say to you, don't you?" Sara turned to Draco and fixed him with her best evil glare. It was a look that she had used a lot in America. He saw it and knew that she meant business.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Draco mumbled. Harry's, Ron's, and Hermione's jaws dropped in shock. They had never heard Malfoy apologize before, especially to a Gryffindor.

"Well, you may be, but I'm not the one you have to apologize to. You have to apologize to Ron," Danielle said.

"What!" Draco yelled.

"You didn't really do anything to me. I know that Sara put you up to this anyway, so why don't you just get it over with and apologize to Ron?" Danielle had noticed how her cousin looked and knew that she forced Draco to do this.

"Go on, Draco," Sara urged. He turned to look at her and knew that she wouldn't back down from this.

"I'm sorry," Draco muttered.

"For?" Ron taunted, enjoying the fact that Malfoy, one of their sworn enemies, had to apologize to him.

"For attacking you," Draco said through clenched teeth.

Sara smiled brightly at him. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Draco sighed, not believing the things he did for love.

They all walked into the greenhouse together, filling up the last spots around the table. Everyone worked silently. Sara got tired of the silence so she grabbed a handful of dragon manure and turned towards Draco.

"Hey Draco," Sara asked slyly.

"Yeah?" he asked, not looking away from his work. Sara threw the manure and it hit Draco square in the face. Everyone who saw laughed. Thankfully, Professor Sprout was looking away, so she didn't see what happened. Sara and Draco started a small manure fight with each other, joking around.

After class, as the trio, Danielle, Sara and Draco walked back to the castle, Danielle spoke up.

"You two act like kids, you know that?"

"You know what I think, Dani?" Sara smirked. Draco had to admit that her smirk out passed everyone in Slytherin. Sara walked up beside her cousin, who started to slow down, not sure what Sara would do.

"This!" Sara smeared manure all across Danielle's face, then started to laugh hysterically. As Danielle tried to wipe it off, Draco gave Sara a high-five for having pulled it off.

"I'll get you back, just wait," Danielle said.

"You have to admit, it was pretty funny," Harry said while Sara raised her eyebrows at her cousin.

"Oh really?" she asked. "What are you gonna do?"

"Just wait, you'll find out soon," Danielle answered.


	3. Chapter 3

All of them headed to the Great Hall for lunch. Sara and Draco headed for the Slytherin table, while Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Danielle headed for Gryffindor's.

They began to eat lunch with no problems and were having fun just talking about classes. Danielle was halfway through her meal when she realized that Sara was sitting across from her. She had a brilliant idea and smiled mischievously.

"What's up with..." Harry trailed off noticing the look Danielle had on her face. "What's the look for?"

"Oh, nothing. I just figured out a way to get Sara back for earlier."

"Oh, yeah?" Ron asked. "How?"

"Like this," Danielle said as she took her spoon, filled it with pudding, and flung it across Gryffindor table to hit Sara in the back of the head.

Sara turned and looked to see who did that. She saw Danielle sitting at the Gryffindor table trying to look nonchalant.

_Two can play at that game_, Sara thought before she grabbed a handful of food and flung it toward Danielle.

"Food fight!" she yelled. The entire hall erupted. Food was flying everywhere, no one was safe. Finally the teachers noticed what was going on and put an end to the food fight.

Harry was looking at Danielle weird.

"What?" Danielle asked him.

"You have some food on your..." Harry reached up and wiped her cheek clean of the pudding that had landed there. Their faces were very close and they leaned in about to kiss when...

"Miss Rodgers!" Danielle and Harry jumped back, startled.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Did I hear right that you started this mess?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Danielle looked over at Sara and saw she was grinning brightly. Apparently this was her payback.

"Yes, Professor."

"Very well, you will clean the Great Hall the muggle way," Professor McGonagall said.

"But, Professor, I have Defense Against the Dark Arts next," Danielle objected.

"Well, the sooner you clean up in here, the sooner you'll get to your class," McGonagall told her and walked away to go get the things she would need to clean with.

Danielle turned to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Take notes for me?"

"Of course," Hermione said before she left with Harry and Ron for their next class.

Sara only felt slightly bad for her cousin as she left the Great Hall with Draco.

"What do we have next?" she asked.

"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Ooh! I'm gonna go wash up a little before class. I'll meet you there?" Sara asked.

"Yeah." Sara ran ahead to a girl's bathroom, which was packed after the food fight, and tried to get the food out of her hair, especially the pudding that Danielle had flung in. When she realized it was a lost cause and she had only a few minutes to get there, she gave up and left the bathroom. She walked around a little until she noticed she had no idea where she was going. The bell rang as Sara looked around for anybody to point her in the right direction but no one was around.

"Oh man!" Sara said to herself. "What am I gonna do now?" She stomped her foot into the marble flooring. _Maybe I should just walk around and look for someone, _she thought. As she walked around, no one was spotted. _Oh wait! My map!_ she thought. Sara looked into her duffel bag but to no avail. "Great, just the day to lose it!" Sara complained.

"Sara what are you doing?" somebody asked from behind. Sara spun around fast with her hand on her wand just incase. She was relieved when she saw Danielle.

"Oh, Dani, thank god it's just you!" Sara exhaled. "I have no idea where this class is!"

"Why aren't you with Draco, then?" Danielle asked.

"I went to wash up in the bathrooms first and told him not to wait."

"Why didn't you check your map?" she questioned.

"I can't find it! I don't know where it disappeared to!" Sara complained.

"Oh well, I've got my map." Sara exhaled deeply in relief. They walked together to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class while talking along the way.

"I wonder what the teacher is like." Danielle asked.

"Draco told me that she came from the Ministry of Magic and she's here to get rid of Dumbledore," Sara stated.

"Wow, I can't believe their ministry would sink so low," Danielle stated as they arrived at the door. "You first, cuz."

They entered the room, not knowing what to expect. They were late, which drew the attention of the teacher as soon as they entered the room.

"You're late, my dears."

"We know, but we got lost. Sorry," Danielle said.

"Very well. I'm Professor Umbridge. What are your names?"

"Danielle Rodgers."

"Sara Giustini."

"Just take your seats and open your book to chapter one. That's what the class was doing before you came in," Umbridge told them.

Sara sat next to Draco, of course, and Danielle sat next to Hermione. Throughout the entire class period they read with Danielle and Harry glancing at each other, but quickly looking away when they caught one another's eye. Finally after an hour of silent reading, class was dismissed.

"Can you believe her!" exploded Hermione once they were a good distance away from the Defense room so as not to be heard by Umbridge.

"Well, she is in complete denial about Voldemort's rebirth. Fudge's doing no doubt," Harry ranted as they headed for Charms. It was their last class for the day.

"Even I think she sucks at teaching," Sara spoke up. "We don't learn anything! All she does is sit on her fat butt and watch us. Oh, she also gives you evil glares," Sara said to Harry. "Why does she hate you so much?"

"Just because I've been telling the truth about Voldemort coming back to life. The whole ministry here doesn't believe me. They even have dared to think that I killed Cedric Diggory!"

"How did he die?" Danielle questioned. Draco grew nervous at where the conversation was going. Sara noticed this and asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing," he tried but Ron interrupted him.

"He's a Death Eater and he's nervous that you'll find out that's what's wrong! He probably helped He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named come back to life!"

"Shut up, Ron," everyone warned, seeing the look on Sara's face.

"No! Back me up Harry! You know perfectly well that he's a Death Eater!" Sara started for him but Draco held her back.

"Draco, let go of me right now," Sara said through clenched teeth. Draco kept his grip firm upon her forearm.

"I mean he has to be a Death Eater," Ron continued. "He's a Slytherin. All Slytherins are stupid Death Eaters!" Sara gave a look that even scared death, to Draco. He, being frightened she would attack him if he didn't, let go of her arm.

SMACK!

Sara slapped Ron as hard as she could across the face. He rubbed the spot where a red mark was already forming.

"For your information, _Weasel,_ not all Slytherins are Death Eaters and there are Death Eaters in every house! Yes, every house! Even Gryffindor! Just because Riddle came from Slytherin it has given Slytherin a bad name!" Ron, Harry, and Hermione gasped, wondering how she knew Voldemort's real name. "So back off! If you want proof all Slytherins are not Death Eaters, check my arms," she pulled up her sleeves and showed her arms to everyone. They were unscathed and unmarked.

"Well, that's not fair! You're from America! There aren't Death Eaters in America!" Ron protested.

"Actually, yeah, there are! Just ask Joe!" Sara screamed.

"Who's Joe?"

"A distant relative that died from the Death Eaters in America! Now you just leave Draco and the rest of the Slytherins alone!" Sara said, almost reduced to tears. She stomped to Charms class with Draco, Ron, and Hermione right behind her. Danielle and Harry walked a little slower. Danielle had the painful memory of the horrid day they found out Joe died, and Harry had the horrifying memory of the green light that killed Cedric.

The six of them reached the Charms classroom. Draco and Sara went straight in. Ron and Hermione were about to follow when they noticed that Danielle and Harry were still pretty far behind them.

"Hey! Aren't you two coming?" Ron yelled.

Harry looked over at Danielle. "No, we need to talk."

"OK, we'll see you after Charms. I'll take notes for you."

"Thanks, Hermione."

Danielle waited until the door closed before she turned to Harry. "What do you we need to talk about?"

"I believe you asked me how Cedric died," Harry said.

"Harry, I was just curious. You don't have to satisfy my curiosity, especially if it still hurts you."

"No, it's all right. I want to."

Harry took a deep sigh and told her the entire story. What happened at the graveyard and how he managed to escape.

"Wow, you're very brave," Danielle said.

"I wouldn't be in Gryffindor if I wasn't, now would I?" Harry asked with a smile.

He waited for a few minutes before asking, "What happened to your relative?"

"As you heard Sara say, he was killed by Death Eaters. All we really know was that it was a senseless killing. The Death Eaters just did it for fun."

"Just like Cedric's death," Harry mumbled to himself, but Danielle heard him. Harry looked at his watch. "C'mon, let's head to the Great Hall. Class is almost over."

"Harry?" Harry turned and looked at Danielle. "Thank you for sharing that with me. It's good to know you feel comfortable enough to tell me."

Harry just smiled softly and they walked to the Great Hall together. As they reached the double doors, they saw Ron, Hermione, Sara, and Draco coming. They all entered together and just sat down when Professor McGonagall came over.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you and Miss Rodgers in his office," she told Sara. Sara went over and told Danielle. They both left together.

They reached the stone gargoyle and said the password."

"Lemon Drops."

The gargoyle permitted them entrance and they knocked on Professor Dumbledore's door.

"Come in." They entered. "Have a seat," Dumbledore said gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk.

"I have some news that may be of interest to you."

"What's that, Professor?" Danielle asked.

"I believe that you know someone by the name of Kristen who will be joining us," he said.

"Are you serious!" asked Sara.

"Very," Dumbledore said with his eyes twinkling. He was clearly amused at Sara's outburst

"When's she coming in?" Danielle asked, more calmly though she was very excited too.

"Tomorrow morning. I expect you two will show her around?" Both of the girls nodded. "Very well. That is all. You may return to dinner."

Sara walked gracefully down the steps until they reached the main floor.

"Yes!" she screamed. "Can you believe it? I thought she was coming a _lot_ later! I can't wait! Oh, we are going to have so much fun now!"

"Calm down, Sara, or people might be worried about you. Then again, I'm sure they already are," Danielle joked.

"Hey!" They both started laughing. They calmed down as they reached the Great Hall. Both went to their previous seats, extremely happy. Draco and Harry both noticed this and asked what was up.

"Nothing much, but my other cousin is coming tomorrow," Sara said to Draco.

"My younger sister is coming tomorrow. She is Sara's age," Danielle answered. Both guys' eyebrows sprung up thinking, _another one!_

"Hey Harry," Ron started. "Why did you skip Charms?"

"Uh, well, I needed to tell her something," Harry answered lamely, mentioning Danielle.

"About what, though?" Ron asked. Harry sighed thinking his friends were going to freak when he told them.

"You know you don't have to tell them, it can be our secret," Danielle whispered in his ear. He took in her fresh vanilla smell. He never quite realized how close they were until Hermione spoke.

"Oh, here are your notes." She handed them across the table to Danielle.

"Uh, yeah. I just had to tell her something," Harry said with a tone that meant the conversation was over. Ron rolled his eyes.

"I really should go," Danielle started. "I still need to get my stuff and settle myself into Gryffindor tower."

"I'll go with you. I can help you and I have a headache, anyway," Harry stated. Danielle smiled as a fluttering feeling erupted in her stomach. They walked out of the Great Hall together to go to Professor McGonagall's office.

With Sara

"Uh, I need to get out of here," Sara whined. Draco looked at her questioningly.

"Why?"

"I'm so excited, I need to calm down, and anyway...," she stopped when she saw her cousin leave with Harry. Sara smiled knowing the two would end up together soon. "And anyway, I need to get my stuff to Slytherin's Common Room."

"I'll help you," Draco offered. They walked out of the Great Hall to Professor Dumbledore's office. Once inside and materials gathered, Sara left a note on his desk saying thank you. They walked down to the dungeons, nothing being said but the password 'Salazar.' They entered the Room, Sara taking in a breath at the beauty. Draco pointed her to where her room was. Sara walked up the stairs and put her stuff in her room. Because she was just transferred, she got a whole room to herself. Sara walked down the steps to see Draco waiting patiently for her on the black leather love seat. She sat down beside him, laying her head on his shoulder. He rummaged through his pocket quickly.

"Here, this is for you," he said. He handed Sara a silver box. "I got this earlier today, since yesterday was your birthday." Sara opened the box and in it sat a silver heart locket connected to a silver chain, along with silver earrings with emeralds in them.

"Oh, Draco, wow, it's beautiful. It must have cost you a fortune!"

"So what if it did? Here, put it on." He helped Sara put on the locket. "Look inside the locket." Sara looked and there was a picture of Draco on one side and a small piece of paper with green writing on the other side. The paper said 'Just remember this moment.' Sara was almost reduced to tears.

"Oh, Draco. It's perfect." Several hours later, everyone in the castle was asleep and Kristen was on her way.


	4. Chapter 4

Danielle woke up and yawned. She didn't want to get out of bed, especially since it was almost December meaning it was getting to be very cold. She closed her eyes to fall back to sleep when they flew open. She just remembered that her sister, Kristen, would be here today.

This gave her enough energy to get out of bed and get dressed. Once that task was complete, she headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She figured that everyone must already be down there because no one was in the common room.

She ran down the stairs, and almost collided with Sara. It seemed that Sara was just as excited and had been on her way to the Great Hall too.

"Where's Draco?" Danielle asked as they briskly walked the rest of the way to their destination.

"He's still getting ready. I couldn't wait for him, I'm just too excited, so we're meeting at breakfast," Sara answered.

"What did he..." Danielle trailed off when she saw a familiar someone standing in front of the Great Hall doors looking lost and in awe. "Oh my! Kristen!"

Sara and Danielle ran over to her. Kristen looked relieved to see them.

"Hey!"

"Hey, Kris," Danielle said. "You certainly were quick. I know Dumbledore said morning, but I didn't think it would be this early."

"Who cares?" said Sara. "I'm just so happy she's here!"

"C'mon, you can sit with me," Danielle said as she led her sister into the Great Hall with Sara following.

Everyone sitting at the Gryffindor table looked up when they saw Danielle walking by with someone new.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my younger sister, Kristen," Danielle said as she and Kristen sat down across from Harry and Ron.

"Mind if I sit with you guys for now, I'm starving. Anyway, I want to be with my cousin," Sara asked the trio. Ron just realized she was there and subconsciously rubbed his cheek.

"I'm fine with it," Harry stated, beside Danielle. Sara sat down beside Hermione and grabbed about everything in front of her and started shoving it in her mouth.

"You're as bad as Ron!" Hermione said revoltingly. Everyone laughed as Sara swallowed roughly.

"I can't help it! I'm starving and during break, some Slytherins, Draco, and I are gonna play Quidditch. We still don't have enough players for a real game, but-" she never finished, for Ron and Harry interrupted her.

"Quidditch!"

"We can play! We can make our own teams and everything, that way we can actually play!" Harry shouted out. Sara sniggered at the two guys.

"So, Kris, what house do you think you're gonna be in?" Sara asked.

"Looks like we're gonna find out." Everyone gave Danielle a questioning look. "Professor McGonagall just brought out the sorting hat," she explained. Just then Dumbledore stood to address the school.

"Ahem, students, we have a new person here with us from the U.S. Today she will be sorted, Kristen Rodgers, please come up."

The sorting hat took a while deciding where to place Danielle's sister. Finally, the hat shouted '**Gryffindor!**' Kris walked back to where she was before.

"I'm guessing this is Gryffindor table?"

"Yeah."

"Sara, what house are you in?"

"Slytherin. It's actually kinda funny. Gryffindor and Slytherin have this war going on between the two houses and we are the exception to that! Oh, Dani, I almost forgot to tell you!" Sara smacked her head and pulled out the locket that was hidden under her robes. "Look what Draco got for me! Is he sweet or what? He even got matching earrings!" Sara showed her two cousins the valuable merchandise. Even Harry and Ron had to admit that it went well with Sara's features.

"Hey hun," Draco said, coming up to Sara.

"Oh, hi, Draco. I want you to meet my cousin, Kristen. She just got sorted into Gryffindor. Kris, this is my boyfriend, Draco Malfoy."

"You've got a boyfriend already!" Kristen exclaimed. Sara replied with a look that said 'so what?'

"Malfoy," Harry started. "I hear you're gonna have a Quidditch game?"

"Yeah."

"How many people do you have?" Harry asked.

"Uh, seven, why?" Draco asked, trying to be nice so Sara wouldn't get upset.

"Just because I was thinking that we should have an actual game. Maybe I should round up some Gryffindors and have one?" he asked slyly.

"You're on. Today, during break. You're team against mine. You gonna be the seeker?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Uh, I dunno, depends how Sara does." During classes, the seven Gryffindors and the seven Slytherins, including Sara and Draco, waited patiently for break. Before they knew it, the bell had rung and break began.

There was a decent crowd that showed up to watch the Quidditch game between Slytherin and Gryffindor. It was almost as if it were a _real_ game. Slytherin's team consisted of Sara, Draco, Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle, Montaugue, and Miles Bletchley. The Gryffindor team consisted of Danielle, Harry, Fred, George, Ginny, Katie, and Ron.

The two teams joined each other in the middle of the field, but didn't shake hands. They just nodded at each other in acknowledgement. Kristen blew the whistle and the game began as they took off on their brooms.

Everyone was having a fantastic time. Though it was kind of rough out there because most of the Slytherins went out of their way to hurt the Gryffindor team, especially the Beaters. Danielle especially was hit hard with a bludger. She hadn't heard it coming because she was so focused on scoring. It knocked the wind of her when it hit her in the stomach, but she was all right and the game continued.

Finally Harry and Sara went after the snitch. Draco had given up his position in exchange for Chaser because Sara had talked about always wanting to try being Seeker. Harry and Sara were sticking to each other. The snitch suddenly dived and Harry leaped off his broom and into the air to catch it. He did a flip in midair, managed to catch the snitch, and barely grab onto his broom to control it before it slammed into the ground. Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief when they saw he was OK.

"Thank Goodness! You scared us half to death!" Danielle said as she landed beside him with Ron.

"Oh leave him alone. I thought he was amazing," Kristen said. She had enjoyed watching the stunt, and said that because she knew that her sister had the tendency to freak when people did reckless things, no matter how impressed she was.

"Even if it was stupid," Draco said as he walked up with Sara and the other Slytherins following.

Sara laughed at Danielle's expression.

"You're going to have to show me how to do that, it was amazing!" Sara exclaimed.

"Sara! Now you're gonna go and try to kill yourself!" Everyone laughed.

"Get used to it, Danielle; he does stunts like that all the time. I usually have a heart attack every time he gets on that broom," Hermione said with a smile on her face. Danielle sighed defeatingly. Kristen rolled her eyes at her sister but continued talking to Ginny Weasley.

They lost track of time as they walked (or for the Slytherin's case, grumbled) back to the castle. Everyone was shocked when they heard the bell ring. The Gryffindors ran while the Slytherins walked fast. Luckily everyone made it to their next class on time which happened to be double Potions. The Slytherins sat where they always sat, as did the Gryffindors. Everyone chatted about the game until Professor Snape glided in the room with his usual scowl on.

"Quiet!" he yelled. Everyone jumped and stayed silent. "Today you will be making the Draught of Living Death. Get working!" Everyone jumped again and started on their potion. Professor Snape stalked around the room looking at potions. When he got to Harry's and Ron's, he sneered.

"Pitiful, Potter. You have failed yet again. Detention, Saturday, with Professor McGonagall."

"That's not fair!" Danielle spoke up. Snape turned to her while glaring at her.

"Detention for interrupting my class."

"Professor Snape," Sara spoke up, her hand in the air.

"Yes, Miss Giustini?"

"I agree with my cousin, it isn't fair. Harry has a better potion than Crabbe and Goyle. They can't even stir theirs." Draco kicked Sara under the table and whispered 'shut up.'

"You are right, both potions are pitiful. Crabbe, Goyle, Weasley, Potter, you all have detentions. This Saturday, you will meet here after dinner. Now finish!"

After potions, while walking to the Great Hall, everyone mumbled in anger.

Later that night, as Sara walked around the school with Cho, she saw Harry trying to sneak by.

"Harry?" He stopped abruptly and turned toward the voice. "What are you doing?" Harry sighed knowing he didn't have a chance hiding it any more.

"I have detention with Umbridge."

"What's she making you do?"

"Uh, just writing lines." Sara noticed he covered up his right hand.

"That's all? She's not doing anything else?" Sara asked suspiciously. Harry shook his head and left.

"What was that all about?" asked Cho.

"I dunno, but I'm gonna find out." Cho shrugged and they continued to go to where they would have to split up to get to their common rooms.

Sara and Danielle seemed to be thinking along the same lines that night as Danielle had seen Harry sneak out the Gryffindor common room. They both thought up of a plan that would get Harry to spill. Neither slept very well that night.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning came early for Danielle and Sara who had gotten only a couple hours of sleep. Kristen even commented on it when she and her sister headed to the Great Hall where they were going to meet up with Sara.

"You look like crap," Kristen told Danielle.

"Gee, thanks. I really appreciate that."

"Why did you get so little sleep then?"

"Because I was trying to think of a way to get Harry to tell me where he's been going," Danielle explained.

"Well, how is it your business? I mean he doesn't have to tell you, does he?"

"No, but I'm worried about him. He's been acting weird lately, Kristen, and I want to know why."

"I agree."

Danielle and Kristen jumped. Behind them was Sara.

"What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?" Danielle asked while clutching her heart.

Sara laughed. "No, but I agree with what you said. I have a way to make him confess."

"You do?" Sara nodded. "Well, how do you know it's going to work?" Kristen asked.

"I don't, but..."

Danielle interrupted, "But if we double team him, maybe he'll open up to us."

"Right," Sara agreed.

"That's freaky," Kristen said, referring to Danielle and Sara finishing each other's sentences. She should be used to it though because they had this weird connection for a couple years now.

The three of them sat down at the Gryffindor table. It was early, so Sara could get away with sitting there. They had just begun eating when Harry joined them. The three girls smiled at each other; this was the perfect opportunity to get him to talk.

"So how was detention?" Sara asked.

"It was detention. How do you think it would be?" Harry replied.

"I don't know. Anything weird happen?"

"Like?" Harry asked not knowing where this line of questioning was going.

"Like I don't know...doing something other than writing lines?" Sara pressed.

"No, it was just a regular detention," Harry said a little irritated. He raised his right hand to run his fingers through his hair, a nervous gesture of his, when something caught Danielle's eye.

Before Harry knew what she was doing she grabbed his arm and yanked back the sleeve. What she saw disturbed her.

"What is it?" Kristen asked, leaning closer.

"Nothing," Harry said, trying to cover his hand up.

"What do you mean 'nothing'? You don't bloody well carve 'I must not tell lies' into your hand for the fun of it!" Danielle exclaimed quietly so as not to bring attention to them.

Harry sighed knowing there was no way he would be able to get out of giving an explanation. "It's from my detentions with Umbridge. She makes me use a special quill and write 'I must not tell lies.'"

"A blood quill? She makes you use a blood quill?" Kristen asked in shock.

"Those are illegal!" Sara said.

"You have to tell someone, Harry," Danielle said, as she inspected the hand closer.

"No way! I don't want anyone to know. It's bad enough that you guys found out. You can't tell anyone."

"OK, we won't tell. Now just hold still a minute. I think I can heal this a little bit," Danielle told him. She muttered a quick spell and it made the redness go away. It didn't help a whole lot, but it was the best she could do.

Sara rubbed her eyes, both from being tired and not believing what she saw.

"How long has this been going on?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"A couple of weeks now. You can't tell anyone. I really mean it. Please don't tell anyone," he pleaded.

"I thought we already said we wouldn't," Kristen stated. Danielle and Sara agreed.

As Sara noticed the Great Hall fill up more, she motioned for her cousins to follow her. They walked into an empty classroom and locked the door.

"You don't plan on listening to him, do you? This is serious; Umbridge is doing something illegal and could be sacked for it."

"I'm more worried about how Harry will take it if I tell someone," Danielle worried aloud. Kristen shook her head, agreeing.

"But if we tell someone, he doesn't have to go through it every night," Sara objected. "I don't know about ya'll, but I'm gonna tell someone. Are you in?"

"Yes," Danielle said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Kristen said. They walked back to the Great Hall but this time Sara went to the Slytherin table.

Breakfast went fast and had no problems what-so-ever. As the day grew on, the Gryffindors had Transfiguration and the Slytherins had a free period. During the free period, Sara went to Professor Snape's office. Just like her, he had a free period. She knocked on the door.

"Yes, Miss Giustini?" Snape answered. Sara fidgeted under his all-knowing stare.

"Can we talk privately? Like in your office. I don't want anyone to overhear this." He moved so she could enter and closed the door behind her, making sure to put on a locking charm and a couple of other wards.

"What is it, miss Giustini? You seem nervous."

"I can't say who, but I know for a fact that Professor Umbridge is using a blood quill on a student," she said fast. Snape stared at her, trying to find out whom, but he couldn't. That shocked him. No student had ever known Occlumency. "Sir, I said I can't tell you and you won't find out that way. My old school taught us the basics of Occlumency and I read up on it so I know how to do it. The person who is using the blood quill is in Gryffindor. Try and do something to stop this." Snape nodded as Sara excused herself. Right then the bell rang.

As Sara raced to her next class, Danielle and Kristen stayed behind in Transfiguration. As they relayed what was going on to Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape fire-called the Headmaster and told him. All who heard about it were shocked. Dumbledore had a strong idea on who the student was.

Later during dinner, Professor Dumbledore called Harry up to his office. As Harry sat down, Dumbledore gazed into Harry's emerald eyes.

"Harry, is there anything you want or need to tell me?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"No, sir, I have nothing to say." That was all it took for Dumbledore to get a memory of a detention with Umbridge.

"Okay, remember that I am here if you need to tell me anything, and I mean anything. I will keep whatever you say confidential." Harry left as Dumbledore relayed the memory he saw from Harry.

_Harry sat at the usual desk in front of Professor Umbridge's desk. The paper and quill were already set out. _

_"You know what to do, Mr. Potter. Go on and start."_

_Harry wrote for hours 'I must not tell lies'. Every time it dug deeper and deeper into his skin. At about midnight, Umbridge looked at his hand._

_"Tut tut, now that won't do, you'll just have to come back tomorrow night. Same time please." Harry left the room._

"Minerva, I need to speak with you," Dumbledore said as he threw green powder into the fire. A second later, Professor McGonagall appeared out of the fire.

"Severus, I need to speak to you," he said again. Moments later, after Dumbledore had them settled in a seat and a lemon drop offered, Dumbledore explained what they had to do. They had to catch the hag in the act.

The three teachers had found out from Kristen that Harry would be serving another detention tonight with Umbridge. They knew that this was their chance to catch her in the act.

When the grandfather clock chimed eleven times they knew that it was time for them to make their move. The three teachers headed for Umbridge's classroom. It didn't take long for them to arrive.

Dumbledore turned to McGonagall and Snape to say, "I think it's best if Minerva goes in looking for Harry. Severus and I will follow shortly."

McGonagall nodded and entered the classroom. Umbridge looked up from her place at her desk.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can. I was just here to collect Mr. Potter. Professor Dumbledore was looking for him," McGonagall said.

"At this time of night?" Umbridge questioned.

"It would've been sooner, but no one knew where Mr. Potter was."

"Well, I'm afraid he still has an hour of detention left to serve with me before he is free to go. Professor Dumbledore can speak to him tomorrow," Umbridge said.

"Honestly, he's only getting out an hour early. Besides, what Professor Dumbledore has to say cannot wait until tomorrow. I'll just take the boy now."

McGonagall walked up to Harry and was about to grab his arm when she noticed the offensive marks. "Dolores, what is the meaning of this?"

"Meaning of what?" Umbridge asked sweetly.

"Mr. Potter has 'I must not tell lies' carved into his skin!"

Umbridge glanced at Harry before saying, "I don't like liars, Minerva. I was teaching the boy a lesson."

"A lesson! I'll have you know using blood quills on a student is illegal!" McGonagall shrieked. Dumbledore and Snape heard this, and they took it as their sign that they should enter.

"What seems to be the problem?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly.

"Dolores was using a blood quill on Mr. Potter," Minerva answered.

"I see. You are aware, Dolores, that blood quills are illegal?" Dumbledore paused waiting for an answer. When he got none he continued, "Very well, I'm afraid I must ask you to pack your things and leave. I do not tolerate teachers hurting my students in anyway."

"You can't do this!" Umbridge said.

"I believe I have. I'm sure you'll tell Cornelius what has happened. I can promise you that no matter how hard he may try to get you back into this school it won't happen. Worst comes to worst we will get Harry to testify against you, and you know you won't win."

Umbridge huffed knowing she was defeated. "You won't be able to find someone to replace me!"

"I already have someone perfect in mind for the position," Dumbledore said.


	6. Chapter 6

News of Umbridge getting sacked was all anyone could talk about during breakfast the next day. As they all whispered about it, the doors to the Great Hall opened. Professor Dumbledore announced the person.

"Everyone, as I'm sure you all know, Professor Umbridge is no longer with us. In replacement, Professor Lupin is here to teach you for the rest of the year."

Most of the houses applauded, he was after all the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they had ever had. Kristen, Danielle and Sara were excited because they all had DADA first thing. Most of the Slytherins grumbled angrily on their way, Sara being the only exception.

They entered the classroom and sat at their normal tables. As the bell rang, Professor Lupin walked in the class.

"Books away, please. I don't plan on using those at all this year," he said. Everyone complied. "Does anyone know the importance of the Protego charm?" Only a small amount of hands raised, Hermione, Danielle, Kristen, and Sara included. "Miss...I'm afraid I don't know your name, ma'am," Lupin said to Kristen.

"My name is Kristen Rodgers and the importance of the protego charm is the fact that it is one of the strongest shield charms there are."

"Good. Is there anyone else in here I haven't met before?" Sara and Danielle rose their hands.

"My name is Danielle Rodgers."

"I'm Sara Giustini."

"Okay, now we all know each other, we will practice this specific charm. Everyone break up into groups of two. One person throw simple charms, spells, and hexes at the other while they try to shield themselves from it. If anyone throws a more complex spell, and trust me, I will know, you will have detention for a week," he said as he noticed Draco Malfoy had his wand pointed at Ron Weasley. Draco huffed and lowered his wand.

Professor Lupin watched the class closely until the bell rang. Everyone left the room, most of the Slytherins complaining. Sara ran ahead while Hermione stayed behind. Draco noticed this and found it the perfect opportunity to make fun of Hermione.

"Having fun, mudblood?" Draco asked not noticing Sara just walked behind him. "I bet you enjoyed the stupid werewolf teaching, didn't you?"

"Draco!" Everyone passing by stopped to see what was going on when they heard Sara scream Draco's name. Draco whirled around and was surprised to see Sara right behind him.

"What? It's true, she's a mudblood," Draco stated. Sara stared at him, horrified.

"I can't believe you," she said in a dangerously low voice.

"Why do you care? You're in Slytherin! All Slytherins hate mudbloods."

"Why do I care? Why do I care!" she yelled, a hint of insanity in her voice. "I care because I'm, as you say, a mudblood. Both my parents are muggles. If you have a problem with that, then we are over." Sara pulled off the locket and pulled out her earrings and threw them at Draco. "Good bye Draco."

Sara ran off as she started to cry. Unfortunately, she ran right into Danielle, Kristen, Ron, and Harry.

"What's wrong, Sara?" Danielle asked worriedly. Sara shook her head and raced off to the Slytherin Common Room. She knew it was too good to be true. After a few moments, Hermione caught up with Danielle and the rest of them.

"What's wrong with Sara?" asked Harry.

"She heard Draco call me a mudblood and badmouthing Professor Lupin. She flipped out on him. I hope she's okay. She stood up for me even though she's a Slytherin. She's really nice and I really hope she'll be all right."

"I'm sure she'll be fine. I'll go talk to her later," Danielle said.

"Yeah, she just needs some time to herself before she can talk to anyone," Kristen added.

"That reminds me," said Harry, "I need to talk to you two." Harry pointed at Danielle and Kristen.

The two girls looked at each other. They had a pretty good idea of what this conversation would be about.

Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione. "We'll meet you in the Great Hall in a few minutes. I just need to talk to them real quick."

"Sure, Harry. See you in there," Ron said and left the three of them alone. Once Ron and Hermione were out of sight Harry rounded on Danielle and Kristen.

"What did you two think you were doing when you told Professor McGonagall about Umbridge! Didn't I specifically ask you guys to keep quiet?"

"Yes, you did, but we felt that you were being stupid about it," Kristen said.

Danielle elbowed Kristen. "What she means is that as friends it's our duty to look out for you, even if it's not what you wanted. We care about you, and I know for a fact that if Ron and Hermione knew about it they would've done the exact same thing."

Harry sighed knowing that they were right. "I'm sorry. I'm glad you guys care. I just thought telling someone would make everything worse."

"We understand," Kristen said.

"Well, let's go to the Great Hall, shall we?" Both girls nodded and they entered the Great Hall for lunch with Harry leading the way.

Lunch was a quiet affair for the Gryffindors who knew what happened. They all felt bad since they knew how Draco was, but never warned Sara. When the bell rang, they subconsciously walked to Care of Magical Creatures which, coincidentally they had with the Slytherins. They all wondered if Sara would show up or not. Surprisingly, just as the late bell rang, Sara came into view.

"Hey Sara, how are you doing?" Danielle asked politely.

"I'm fine," she said in a rough voice. Since her eyes were still red and puffy, Danielle could tell she was lying.

Class passed with nothing remarkable happening. It wasn't until after, the confrontation happened. Draco walked up behind Sara. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her away.

"Please, just listen to me before you leave," he said. Sara nodded and he continued. "Please, please, don't do this, I really like you and I don't want that to end."

"No, Draco. We are over unless you change and you have no problems what-so-ever with muggle-borns and half-breeds. I'm sorry but I can't date someone like you. If you really want me back then change. Goodbye," she walked back to the castle never looking back.

Draco watched her walk off. Her words penetrated his mind as he slid down a tree. No one noticed him sitting there, tears slowly rolling down his pale cheeks and off his pointed chin.

The bell rang for class when Draco finally stood up again. He didn't feel like going to class and seeing Sara there, so he went to the owlery instead. When he reached it, he sat down and pulled out some parchment, a quill, and ink. He sat there trying to write. Finally he felt he got it right.

_Dear Mother,_

_Please keep this letter away from father. It is for your eyes only._

_I don't know what to do. I'm so confused right now. I really like this wonderful girl, but she is a mudblood. She hates it when I discriminate half-breeds and such. She even told me, herself, that if I don't change, we won't be together. I really like her; I don't know what to do. I want to change for her, but I'm scared of what father will do. I know you don't care if I'm a death-eater, so please help me. I really miss her; I think I even love her. It hurts so much to be away from her. Please help me with this._

_Love from your son,_

_Draco_

_P.S. I can't wait to be home for Christmas._

He rolled up the letter and attached it to an owl, which flew away almost instantly. He heard the bell ring and knew it was time for dinner.

During dinner, Draco noticed Sara wasn't sitting at the Slytherin table. Instead, she sat with her family at the Gryffindor table. He watched as she talked to Kristen, wondering what they were talking about.

Sara felt someone watching her. She looked up into a pair of cold grey eyes, the same exact eyes she didn't want to see. All of a sudden, a rush of tears came. Kristen noticed and asked what was wrong.

"It's nothing," Sara tried.

"Sara, it's okay to feel sad now. It probably hurts a lot. It will help to talk about it, you know." Kristen slowly rubbed Sara's back to get her to calm down.

"It's just that I knew it was too good to be true. I really like him and this is killing me but it will be worse if I stay with him. I want to go to bed, good night," Sara said as she stood up. She walked out the Great Hall.

Over at the Slytherin table an interesting conversation popped up.

"Hey Draco, what's going on with you and Sara?" Blaise asked.

"None of your business," Draco snapped. He got up before anyone could comment, and left.

The next morning, during breakfast, Draco got a reply from his mother. He left the Great Hall to read it.

_Dearest Draco,_

_Here are some words of wisdom; listen to what your heart tells you to do. If your heart tells you to change, then do it. I can hold off your father. You can never go wrong with love. Your father should know that more than anyone. I know you'll do the right thing, whatever it is._

_On a different note, your father and I have to go on a business trip over Christmas. Sorry, but you have to stay at Hogwarts. That even gives you more time to make a decision. Hopefully she'll stay at Hogwarts over Christmas. Good luck, young dragon._

_Love,_

_Narcissa_

Draco re-read the letter. He knew what to do; he just didn't know how to do it. Slowly he walked to his first class of the day.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning everyone was chatting in the Great Hall while eating breakfast. However, the Slytherin table was unnaturally subdued. Again Sara was sitting with the Gryffindors because she couldn't stand to be anywhere near Draco. The other Slytherins noticed that something was going on between Sara and Draco even if he didn't say anything. Though they knew it was best if they stay out of it and leave both parties alone.

Breakfast was almost over when owls swooped through the Great Hall to drop off mail to the student recipient. Hermione looked up as she waited for a barn owl to drop her copy of the Daily Prophet. She paid the waiting bird the fee, and it flew off.

"Yes!" shouted Hermione after she had gotten through the article on the first page.

"What?" Ron asked his mouth still full of food.

"Ew, that's gross." Hermione made a face. "Anyway, read this."

She stuck the paper in the middle of the table where it was visible to their group. She waited patiently as they read the article and anticipated their reactions. Harry's was the best.

"Ha!" Harry said as he pumped a fist into the air in triumph.

"Uh...what just happened?" Kristen asked. She looked at Danielle and Sara who both just shrugged. They weren't able to read the paper because they were too far away.

"Peter Pettigrew was found dead," Harry said, barely concealing the joy that he felt. Kristen, Sara, and Danielle looked stunned at this information. They, of course, knew about Harry's story and knew the role that Pettigrew had played in it.

"I thought he was already dead," Danielle said.

"Well, he made everyone believe he was. He was the one who killed the 13 muggles and framed Harry's godfather, Sirius," Hermione explained.

"And he was my rat," Ron added. The three American girls raised their eyebrows. "He was an animagus."

"An animagus? Wouldn't he had to have been registered with the Ministry?" asked Sara.

"Yes, he would've, but he, Sirius, and my dad became animagi during their fifth year here to keep Remus company during full moons. That's how he was able to escape the scene," Harry said.

Kristen looked over at Harry. "How did he die?"

"It doesn't say, but who cares!"

The bell rang and they left in good spirits for their first class of the day. Kristen looked down and realized that she must've spilt something on her robes. She told the others that she would meet up with them, and she rushed to the bathroom where she cleaned herself up

Once she was clean she took off running towards her class, when she ran into someone. She fell onto her back and was startled at the sight that she saw when she looked to see who she ran into. He had short, blonde hair and best blue eyes she'd ever seen.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Here let me help you up," the boy said, holding out a hand to her. She took his hand, and he pulled her back on her feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," Kristen replied.

"Well, I'll see you around." Kristen watched as the boy took off down the hall, but then took off running when she realized that she had a class to get to.

In Dumbledore's Office

"Now how can I help you?" Dumbledore looked down at his visitor, who happened to be the same boy that ran into Kristen.

"Professor, it's me Cedric Diggory."

"So you are. I may believe you, but we need to get the minister here. Would you be all right with taking Veritaserum? I'm sure that's what he'll do to make sure you're not a Death Eater."

"That's fine," Cedric said. Dumbledore nodded and fire-called for Cornelius Fudge. He spoke quickly, and before Cedric knew it, the minister was in Dumbledore's office.

"Open your mouth, please, Mr. Diggory." Cedric did as he was told and began to feel the effects of the potion take place. Fudge asked a series of questions like what his name, birthdate, and parents were. However, Fudge couldn't keep his curiosity at bay since he knew the boy was telling the truth.

"What happened at the graveyard?"

"I'm not sure. I was hit with the killing curse rather quickly."

"Do you know who hit you with the curse?"

"Peter Pettigrew," Cedric answered. Fudge stood in shock. It all seemed to fit, which meant...

"Cedric Diggory is alive, and Sirius Black is free."

The fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins worked on their Herbology project, never noticing the owl that flew in. It landed on Professor Sprout's hat, which fell off. The owl, now frightened, flew around Professor Sprout. When it finally landed again, she grabbed the letter and read it.

"Mr. Potter," she said at last. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Kristen, Danielle and Sara all looked up. "The headmaster needs you in his office now. He writes that it's urgent and you must get there as soon as possible. He also writes that Miss Rodgers, Miss Rodgers, and Miss Giustini come once class is over."

Harry looked over at the three family members, who looked equally confused. He shrugged it off and as he left, the only thought that went through his head was_ I hope Danielle doesn't have to leave._

Harry never returned to Herbology, making his friends very nervous, especially the family members. They walked to Professor Dumbledore's office talking about nothing in particular, their own way to stay calm. When they entered, Kristen's eyes grew wide.

"It's you," she stated to the blonde kid in front of her.

"Small school, huh?" he said.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said as she noticed everyone looking at her and Cedric.

"I haven't introduced myself, have I? I guess I forgot the last time we met. My name is Cedric Diggory."

"Well, nice to meet you, Cedric. I'm Kristen Rodgers."

"And they say blonds make the worst couples," Sara joked. Kristen turned red when she realized what her cousin was implying.

They then turned to Professor Dumbledore, just noticing the three others in the room.

"Nice to see you again, ladies," Dumbledore started. "This," he said pointing to Fudge, "is our Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. This is Sirius Black. And you now obviously know Cedric Diggory. I called you up to my office to ask you a few simple questions. Where were you last night?"

Sara still had _that_ memory in her mind but pushed it off and created a fake memory for Dumbledore to receive. The memory Dumbledore saw consisted of Sara crying on her bed for half the night, staring at a picture of Draco until finally falling asleep.

"What do you mean, Professor? We were in our common rooms. Where else would we be?" Kristen said.

"That's what we're here to find out," Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his eye present.

"Well, I'm afraid we'll be here for a while, sir. We have done nothing wrong," said Danielle. It was half true. Technically what they did wasn't wrong, but it was probably frowned upon.

Danielle realized that she was too focused on that memory and tried to push it to the back of her mind quickly. However, she knew that Dumbledore had seen what she was thinking of because the twinkle in his eye seemed to become brighter.

"You're right, Miss Rodgers. Freeing a wrongly convicted murderer and bringing back to life an old friend is not wrong." Dumbledore leaned forward. "How did you do it?"

The three girls sighed. They knew that there was no use avoiding questions now.

"It was mine and Danielle's idea," Sara said after a few minutes of silence.

Dumbledore looked towards Kristen. "How did you become part of this?"

"They came to me asking if I would do them a favor. I said yes, and they explained to me what they were doing. They needed me because I'm the best at Potions out of the three of us," Kristen explained.

"I see and what exactly were you two doing?" Dumbledore looked back and forth at the two older girls.

"I had been reading an old book when I stumbled across this ancient potion that was supposed to bring people back from the dead. I told Sara about it, and we thought it would be neat to try it out just to see if it would work. However, we didn't think we would be able to do it after all because a human sacrifice was needed, and we weren't about to kill someone," Danielle said.

Sara continued, "That was until we went to Hogsmeade the day before everyone found out that Pettigrew was dead. We had bought the supplies anyway just in case the opportunity presented itself, and it did. We were heading back towards the castle when I threw a snowball at Danielle. She ran into an alleyway to take cover when she tripped over something, or I guess in this case someone. It was Pettigrew."

Dumbledore looked like he was about to say something when Kristen interrupted, "They didn't kill him! He was already dead."

"Yes, I know. Please continue." Dumbledore made a motion with his hand.

"So that was when we knew that if we wanted to try out this potion, this was our chance. After we got back to the Great Hall, we told Kristen about it. She agreed to help us, so the three of us snuck out of the castle and into Hogsmeade where his body still laid. It took a couple of hours to complete the potion. We didn't know that it actually worked until now," Danielle said looking at Cedric.

"Why did you pick Cedric?" Dumbledore asked.

"Because the book said that in order for the person to be resurrected, they needed to be dead for less than a year. The only person that came to our minds was Cedric," Sara explained.

"You young ladies are in a lot of trouble," Fudge said, finally able to find his voice after the confession.

"I'm afraid, Cornelius, that you are wrong. What these ladies have done is not a crime by any means. Besides, they are not the first to break about a dozen school rules," Dumbledore defended as his eyes traveled to Harry in reference to all the school rules he has broken over the years.

Fudge stayed silent as he could not argue that point. Dumbledore turned to look at the three girls, Harry, and Cedric. "I do believe that dinner is about to start. I suggest you all join your classmates in the Great Hall."

"That's all? No reprimand at all?" Sara asked in shock.

"No, I trust that you three will never attempt something like that again. Though I doubt you would have succeed a second time."

"Why's that, Professor?" Kristen asked.

"Because it is my belief that if you had used anyone besides Pettigrew for the sacrifice that it wouldn't have worked. I believe it was successful because Pettigrew had killed Cedric, making a connection. Now if there are no more questions..."

None of the students said anything. "Very well, you are free to go."

The five of them left after Harry told Sirius that he would see him in a few days for the Christmas break. They all talked and laughed as they headed to the Great Hall. All of them were looking forward to the DA meeting that would take place after dinner.

After dinner was over, the trio, Danielle, Kristen, and Sara went to the room of requirements. They all helped set things up trying not to knock down the tacky decorations Dobby put up.

Luna was the first to arrived and said, "Mistletoe." Danielle and Harry looked around and noticed they were under it. They both turned red and finished setting up. Luna was followed by the rest of the members. The meeting began.

"Today is our last meeting until after Christmas break, so we will just be reviewing," Harry started.

"What! I wouldn't have come if I had known that!" Zacharias Smith said.

"Well, your welcome to leave," Fred said but Smith stayed. "Go on, Harry."

"Thanks, anyway as I was saying, we are just going to review for it is stupid to learn anything knew, go on break, forget it, then come back and re-learn it. We'll start with the simpler spells. Split up and start."

Everyone complied. Danielle, Kristen, and Sara were in one group until Danielle noticed Neville didn't have a partner. She wished Kristen and Sara good luck, as it was their first meeting and went over to Neville.

The spell flew back and forth getting better and better every time. Finally Harry called it quits.

"That was good everyone. When we get back, we'll start on harder stuff, maybe even Patronuses." Everyone smiled as they left. The trio, Danielle, Kristen and Sara were they only ones left.

"Do you need help cleaning up, Harry?" Hermione asked. He shook his head. "Ok, then. C'mon Kristen, Ron, Sara, Danielle, we are gonna be late." They all left except Danielle who was now alone with Harry. She helped him clean up the room.

"This group is really interesting," she said. "Shouldn't you take it public now that Umbridge is gone?"

"I'm gonna talk about that next meeting. Oh, thank you for being Neville's partner, it meant a lot to him, he never has a partner in here."

"No problem," Danielle said, accidentally bumping into Harry. They made eye contact but quickly looked away. When Harry looked up, he saw mistletoe.

"I hate you Dobby," he muttered.

"What?" Danielle asked looking up.

"N-nothing!" Harry stuttered. Danielle turned red when their eyes met again, but she noticed a slight shade of pink creeping up Harry's face.

After a few moments of just staring at each other, Harry couldn't take it anymore. He lowered his head so their lips met.

After a minute or so, they left the room hand-in-hand, never noticing someone watching them.

"Yes! You're finally together! I knew it!" Danielle screamed and jumped and Harry whirled around.

"Sara! You scared the crap out of me!" Danielle yelled holding her hand to her heart.

"Sorry, Dani, couldn't resist. I need details tomorrow! 'Night!" Sara left the two standing there stunned.

"Well, that was...interesting," Harry tried.

"C'mon, we need to get to our Common Room before anyone notices us," Danielle stated. They ran to get to the Gryffindor tower and muttered the password.

"Good night, Danielle," Harry said.

"Good night." Neither knew it wouldn't be a good night at all.

Harry went to bed feeling happy, but also felt weird like something bad was going to happen. He had no idea why because this was the first time in a while he had been happy. He decided that it must've been something he ate during dinner and fell asleep.

It wasn't long before he started to dream.

_Harry was sliding along on his stomach. "What is this place?" he thought to himself. He had never seen a place like this. It had shiny, colorful objects. He had no idea what they were. He continued moving right along in the middle of the corridor when he stumbled upon a man._

_He had planned on just moving right by, but the man pulled out his wand. He had no choice. He had to strike. He reared his fangs and sank them into the man three times._

_The man was lying on the floor yelling in pain. Blood was pouring from the wound in his side..._

"Harry!"

Harry jumped awake with his scar burning and frightening his roommates who had been trying to wake him for the past five minutes.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Ron asked cautiously, eyeing his best friend who looked so pale and weak.

Harry shook his head. "Your...your...your dad." He had to stop and catch his breath. "Your dad has been bitten. It's really serious."

"I'm going for help," Dean said and took off for Professor McGonagall's office. They only had to wait a few minutes before Dean came back with Professor McGonagall in toe.

"Are you okay, Mr. Potter?" she asked as sat on the bed next to Harry.

"I'm fine. It's Ron's dad you have to worry about."

"What about Mr. Weasley's father?" Professor McGonagall looked at Harry dreading the answer.

"He was bitten by a huge snake, and he's bleeding a ton. He needs help!"

"Very well, Potter. We're going to see the Headmaster. The rest of you stay put until further notice." She looked over at the other boys to make sure they were all right. They seemed shaken up at the scene they had to witness, especially Ron. "Weasley, you better come too."

She led Harry and Ron up to Professor Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk doing paperwork, but in his pajamas. He looked up at their entrance.

"What seems to be the matter?"

"Potter, here, has had a...nightmare," Professor McGonagall said.

"It wasn't a nightmare. Professor," Harry looked Dumbledore straight in the eye, "Mr. Weasley, Ron's dad, is hurt. He was bitten by a huge snake."

The office was quiet for a few minutes before Dumbledore asked, "How did you see it?"

"What do you mean, sir?" Harry asked. His brain was in overload and couldn't think straight.

"What position did you see the attack take place in?"

Harry was silent for a minute. He really didn't want to admit it, he felt it was his fault. It had to be done though. "I was the snake."

"I see." Dumbledore turned to his portraits that were hanging in his office and sent a couple of them to check on the situation. It was a few minutes later that they reappeared saying that they had seen the man Dumbledore spoke of, and that he was in bad shape. He sent one more portrait away before he turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Minerva, please go wake the rest of the Weasley children."

"Of course." She paused in the doorway. "What about Molly?"

"I'm sure she's already fully aware of the situation because of her clock," Dumbledore said and McGonagall nodded before leaving the room. Dumbledore then focused his attention on Harry and Ron.

"I'm going to send you both to Grimmuald Place, and the other Weasley children should reach it a few minutes after you." Dumbledore grabbed a piece of parchment off his desk and transformed it into a port key. He held it out for the two boys to grab a hold of, and they did.

Instantly they were whisked away and landed outside the front door of Sirius's home. Sirius had just opened the door to let them in when the rest of the Weasleys appeared. Sirius motioned for them all to come in.

They all sat at the kitchen table, while Sirius made hot chocolate for them. Everything was quiet because everyone was wrapped up in their own thoughts. It was late, but they didn't care. They just wanted word on how Mr. Weasley was doing.

About an hour later they were surprised when Mrs. Weasley came through the fireplace. Her children instantly bombarded her with questions about their father. Harry stayed sitting, and Sirius placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"Enough!" Mrs. Weasley shouted to be heard over her children. "Your father is going to be fine. He's resting in St. Mungo's."

Everyone sighed in relief when they heard the news.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning all the Gryffindors were wondering what happened to the Weasleys and Harry. Danielle and Sara cornered Harry's roommate, Dean, to find out what happened. All he knew was that Harry had a nightmare and went to Dumbledore's office along with Ron, a little later, Professor McGonagall got the rest of the Weasleys and they never returned.

Danielle was so worried, she made herself sick. She didn't eat anything. She just stared at nothing in particular while the owls flew in. Sara nudged Danielle, who looked at the snowy white owl in front of her. Slowly, she took the piece of parchment. The owl nibbled on her food as she unfolded it.

"That's Hedwig, Harry's owl!" Hermione exclaimed as Danielle read the parchment.

"Harry wants to know if we want to go to Sirius' for Christmas," Danielle said in awe. "All of us, it says here 'I was wondering if you, your sister, your cousin, and Hermione wanted to come over to my place for Christmas.'"

Just then, Kristen plopped down on a seat with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey Kris, do you want to go to Sirius' for Christmas?" Sara asked, noticing the change in her stature.

"Well, uh," she sighed. "I sorta can't. Cedric invited me to go to his house for Christmas and I accepted. Sorry," she said sincerely.

"Oh, okay. Hermione, when does the term end?" Sara said with a grin.

"Tomorrow. I can't wait!"

The next day, Danielle, Hermione, and Sara took a portkey to Sirius'. They were greeted by Kreacher who told them they were to go to the kitchens.

When they entered the kitchen, everyone greeted them, Sirius winking at Harry, trying to hide his laughter.

"Where's Kristen?" Harry asked.

"Someone else got to her first," everyone looked at Sara strangely. "In other words, Cedric invited her over to his house."

"Oh."

They ate breakfast in silence, Sirius and Sara thinking the same thing; are they going to do something or not?

Once everyone was done, they all started decorating the house. Finally, when everyone was done, Harry leaned up against a door frame. Danielle walked by oblivious until Sara and Sirius pushed her into Harry.

"Oh look, Harry, mistletoe. You have to kiss her now, it's the tradition," Sirius said with a wink. Danielle turned deep red.

"Well, if it's tradition..." he kissed her, swiftly, but a kiss she would treasure for the rest of her life. Sirius couldn't hold back his laughter anymore, but neither could Sara.

By the next day, Sara and Danielle had learned all about the marauders (far away from Fred and George of course) and the pranks that they pulled. During dinner Sara got a great idea.

"Hey Sirius, can you show me some pranks you pulled?" Sara asked innocently.

"No! Don't, the teachers will think it's me if the old pranks started up again!" Harry busted out.

"Well, I don't know. Harry makes a good point, but since you're gonna be family soon..." he left it at that. Sara was laughing so hard at the look on Danielle's face that she fell off her chair. Everyone started laughing after that.

Christmas eventually arrived. Sara and Danielle were surprised to find gifts not only from home, but from here as well. Sara looked like a kid in a candy store as she ripped through all the presents. Danielle grew worried as Sara's expression changed from hyper to sad.

"What's wrong, smiley?" she asked.

"Draco got me a gift," Sara explained.

"Oh, I see. Just forget about him, it's Christmas!" Danielle tried. Sara turned towards Danielle's untouched pile.

"Open yours!" Sara exclaimed. Danielle laughed and grabbed the first present on the pile. She inhaled sharply when she noticed who it was from.

"Harry got me a gift!" Danielle said exasperated. Sara snickered at the way her cousin acted. Danielle ripped through the paper to find a fairly thick book. Magical London, it was titled. Danielle seemed to forget about everything as she flipped through the book.

"Dani! Hey, Dani! Hello? Dani, come back to earth please!"

"Huh? What? Oh, sorry."

After getting through the rest of the presents, the cousins went downstairs to greet everyone else. Sara noticed Harry fidgeting nervously with an empty seat beside him. She smiled mischievously.

"Hey Dani, there's only two open seats left. I'm gonna sit here," she plopped down on a seat between Sirius and Ginny, leaving the seat beside Harry the only one available. Danielle sat down and glared at Sara.

The rest of their Christmas vacation went by too fast. Elsewhere, though, Kristen was having a lot of fun.

"Hey Kristen," Cedric said.

"Yeah?"

"Merry Christmas," he said as he pulled out a present for her. Her face lit up as she slowly unwrapped it. Inside she found a small key chain with several things hanging from it. One thing was a small rhinestone encrusted heart and another was a picture frame that held a sample picture of a child on a swing. Kristen realized there was another thing hanging from the key chain and looked confused and Cedric.

"It's a two way, uh, walk-talk. Something like that."

"Oh! Walkie-Talkie! It's probably been shrunken."

"Yeah. Um, just hit that button if you need help or want to talk or anything like that," he explained.

Kristen grew red in the face but smiled and muttered a sincere thanks. Cedric swooped down and kissed her on the cheek.

"No problem."

Kristen almost fainted, she was that happy. Although she could sustain herself.

Later on that night, Mrs. Diggory called in her family and guest for Christmas dinner together. Kristen entered the dining area to see a buffet on the elonged table.

Dinner, for them, was and enjoyable time although a few uncomfortable conversations popped up.

"Kristen, sweetheart, please tell me how you brought my son back and how he apparently has fallen in love with you," Mrs. Diggory asked. Kristen's face grew red as she buried it in her hands.

"Mum! You're embarrassing me," Cedric looked over at Kristen. Although he couldn't see her face, he could tell she was red in the face. "And you're embarrassing her!" he hissed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear, it is just I have yet to hear it."

"It's okay, Mrs. Diggory. I'm not sure about the, um, second part, but," Kristen tried to say, uncomfortable but delighted at the thought. "I didn't do it on my own. See, my sister and my cousin did most of it. I just did the potion. I'm sorta the potions freak in the family, I mean, they're good, but Sara can't really do it without Draco's help and Danielle is good. They try their hardest," Kristen said.

"Still, the potion was the biggest part in it, then you two meet, and you're here now. Destiny has a strange way of working," Mr. Diggory said.

"So how did you actually meet each other?" Mrs. Diggory questioned.

"When we first ran into each other, or when we found out each other's name?" Cedric asked.

"Hum, either will do."

"Okay, well I was running to Professor Dumbledore's office and I literally ran into her. I didn't even see her so of course I helped her up and got her books for her. A little while later, I was still in Professor Dumbledore's office when she walked in with her sister and Sara. I introduced myself, having forgotten about that before. That's how we met. Then of course I found out that she helped me come back to life." Cedric looked over at Kristen with a glint in his eyes.

Mrs. Diggory knew that glint all to well. She had the same one when she met Amos. It was the glint of love.

Christmas, for them, went by with nothing exciting happening except when Cedric kissed Kristen, who was caught under the mistletoe.

Break was over before they knew it and they had to return to Hogwarts. Chatter filled the Great Hall as everyone ate dinner and caught up with friends. Sara was sitting between Kristen and Danielle because she didn't want to have to go back to the Slytherin table and deal with Draco.

Danielle and Sara turned and looked at Kristen. "Anything interesting happen over break you want to tell us?"

"Like what?"

"Like what happened between you and Cedric. Duh!" Sara said.

"Oh, yeah," Kristen said. "We just basically hung out. His parents are really nice people."

"And?" Danielle prompted leaning in so they wouldn't be overheard.

Kristen paused before saying, "And we're together. There I said it. Are you happy now?"

"Yes." Sara and Danielle grinned at each other.

"I knew it all along," Danielle said and Sara agreed.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Kristen remembered something. She leaned over Danielle and said, "Hey, Harry!"

"Yeah?" Harry asked as he turned to face Kristen.

"The DA meeting is tonight, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was just making sure." Kristen hesitated before adding, "Is it all right if I bring Cedric?"

Harry barely paused before answering, "Of course."

Kristen smiled happily and dinner continued on. It was an hour later that everyone was getting up from their tables to head to their common rooms except for the DA members who were heading for the Room of Requirement. Harry was about to head up with Ron and Hermione to allow Kristen and Danielle to talk to Sara for a few more minutes when Danielle grabbed onto his arm.

"Harry."

"Yeah?" Harry asked. In response Danielle reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She blushed as she pulled away; she didn't usually show affection in public.

"What was that for?" he asked, confused but pleased.

"A thank you for letting Sara and I stay with you at Sirius'."

Sara came up right then and said, "Do you want me to kiss you too?"

"No, he doesn't want you kissing him," Danielle answered for him. "He's got a girlfriend, remember?"

Sara put a finger to her chin and thought for a minute. "Who?"

"Me!" Danielle said.

"Oh, that's right." Sara snapped her fingers. "I forgot. My bad."

Sara laughed as she headed up to the Room of Requirement. Everyone else following behind her. Once everyone was in the room, Harry wasted no time in starting.

"Welcome back, everyone! I hope you all had a nice relaxing break because what we'll be doing is hard, so hopefully you're all rested.

"Today we are going to learn how to produce a patronus. It's very hard, so don't feel bad if you don't get it on your first try. It is used against Dementors, so you have to think of a very strong, happy memory while saying the incantation 'Expecto Patronum'. It goes something like this..."

Harry performed the spell and everyone watched as the stag jumped out of his wand. "OK, I think you all have the idea, so go ahead and give it a go. Just remember to think happy thoughts."

For an hour all the members tried their hardest to produce a patronus, but like Harry predicted--no one did. Harry concluded the meeting with a reminder for them to practice and not to be disappointed because it was a very hard spell to master.

It was nearly curfew so everyone headed to their respective common rooms to get some sleep. No doubt they would need it. It was fifth year after all and OWLS were coming up.

Kristen shied away from her cousins to walk with her blond-haired hottie. They talked freely until they reached the hospital wing doors.

"That was a fun Lesson, huh?" Cedric asked even though he couldn't get it.

"Yeah, it was hard, though," Kristen admitted.

"Yeah, so, um, I guess this is good night."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Cedric threw all caution to the wind and asked to walk her to her dormitories. They walked silently, Kristen leading the way. Finally they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"This is Gryffindor's Common Room?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah, unless they changed it, which I highly doubt," Kristen replied jokingly. "Hey, Cedric, thanks for letting me stay over Christmas. It was really fun."

"Don't mention it. It was nothing and it was fun. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You better get in there before you get caught."

"G'night," Kristen said, secretly hoping he would kiss her good night. Her wish came true when Cedric lowered his lips to hers. A few glorious moments later, they broke apart and wished each other a good night. Kristen murmured the password and entered to find the Common Room almost empty.

"Danielle!" Kristen exclaimed.

Danielle turned so fast her hair whipped out.

"Kristen! Jeez, you scared me!"

"I can't believe you were just kissing Harry!" Kristen squealed making both Harry and Danielle blush.

"It was just a good night kiss," Danielle argued.

"It's okay, Danielle, I was just surprised."

"Oh," Danielle replied, turning even redder. "Well, I'm going to bed. G'night, Harry, c'mon, Kris."

"Night, Harry," Kristen said as she followed Danielle.

"Good night," said the still blushing boy. Harry went up to bed, making the Common Room empty.

Slytherin Common Room

Sara walked into the Slytherin Common Room, hoping everyone was in bed. In her pocket sat Draco's present, unopened and hardly touched. She inwardly groaned when she saw blond hair that was slicked back at the leather couch. Sara tried to make an unknown get-away, but the boy with the blond hair caught her. Silently and quickly, Draco prayed for courage to tell her, even though he hated how Gryffindorish it sounded.

"Sara, please wait."

"Draco, how many times have I told you that I will have nothing to do with you?"

"I just wanted to ask you something." At Sara's questioning gaze, he continued. "What is that in your pocket?" He knew he needed to approach it slyly or she would to off to her room.

"Nothing," she said stiffly.

"Oh, I was hoping it was my Christmas gift I gave to you. Did you get my gift?" Draco asked.

"Yes, why?" Sara asked questioningly.

"No reason, I was just hoping you got it and opened it," Draco said slyly.

"Draco, you'll be lucky if I don't burn it rather than open it." Sara said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Please open it. I know you'll like it and if for some reason you don't, go ahead and burn it. Just please open it before you burn it or throw it away," Draco pleaded. Sara started up the stairs, not saying a word. "Good night, Sara."

Once in her dorm room, Sara grew curious and pulled out Draco's gift. She slowly unwrapped it to find a card covering an elonged box. Sara read the card and broke out in tears. When she gained control again, she opened the box to find her locket and earrings that she threw at Draco along with a matching bracelet. Sara couldn't control herself any longer and broke out into another fit of tears.

Sara walked back down the stairs hoping Draco hadn't gone to bed yet. The room was empty so Sara went back to bed. She silently prayed everything would work out tomorrow. Slowly she fell asleep, not knowing about her cousins confrontations with each other.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning came too soon for some. Ron, Hermione, Danielle, and Kristen were up before Harry and sat in the Common Room waiting for him. Ron was nodding off in his chair, head leaning towards Hermione while Danielle and Kristen played Wizard's Chess with Hermione observing. Harry slowly descended the stairs, and it wasn't until he reached the bottom that they noticed him.

"Blimey, Harry! What took you so long? I'm starving!" Ron said and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"When aren't you?" Harry mumbled. Danielle and Kristen, being the only ones who heard, laughed.

"Let's get down there so we can check over our Potion's essay," Hermione said.

"Do we have to talk about school so early?" Kristen moaned.

"Let's just get down there so I can get this day over with," Harry replied. Danielle gave him a questioning glance, but decided not to ask just yet.

They entered the Great Hall and took their usual seats. Danielle and Kristen sat down next to Sara. Everyone started piling food on their plates and began to dig in, except for Harry.

Hermione looked over and asked, "What the matter, Harry?"

"It's none of your business," Harry said to himself thinking no one heard.

"As a friend it is my business! I have a right to know when something's bothering you. We can't help you unless you tell us," Hermione replied.

It was then that Danielle really noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "What's wrong, Harry? Didn't you get any sleep last night?"

"No, I had a nightmare."

"What was it about?" Kristen asked speaking up for the first time.

"I can't really remember," Harry said truthfully. "All I know is that my scar tingled when I woke up."

Ron's head snapped up at that. "But, Harry, the last your scar hurt You-Know-Who was here."

"I know, but he can't be."

Hermione was silent for a minute before saying, "If they're happening that often maybe you should take a dreamless sleeping potion."

Danielle, Sara, and Kristen looked at each other and nodded before saying, "Occulmency would work better."

"What's Occlumency?" asked Hermione.

"Occlumency is the defense used to protect your mind from unwanted things," Sara explained.

"That's all well and good, but who am I supposed to learn that from?" Harry asked.

"They're sitting right in front of you," Sara said.

"How do you know Occlumency?" Ron asked with his mouth full, spraying bacon bits in Sara's face. Sara slowly wiped the bacon off her face.

Danielle knew what was coming, so she rested her hand on Sara's shoulder before answering Ron's question, "We learned the basics at our old school, so we're able to help you."

"Yeah, we can find some place quiet later and start to teach you," Kristen said.

"Do you think it'll work?" asked Hermione.

"We're sure of it," Sara answered still glaring at Ron.

They finished up breakfast a few minutes later before heading off to class. They were in the hallway walking towards Potions with Sara lagging behind, still upset about the whole Draco thing. She was halfway to the dungeons when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see who it was and got a shock. It was Draco.

"Sara, did you even bother to see what it was that I got you?" Draco asked worrying that she didn't. Sara looked into his usual cold grey eyes and found that today they were not cold, but warm. All of her doubts disappeared when she realized that he meant it all.

"Yes," she whispered. All of a sudden, the bell rang and they had to run to class. They ended up late which lost them several points from Slytherin.

As the class progressed, Danielle asked Sara what was going on with Draco, while Kristen listened intently.

"Uh, I dunno. He wants to make up with me and I, the same, but we haven't talked yet. I'm gonna sit with him during lunch, just so you know," Sara replied. She glanced ahead to the blond head of hair. It was going to be a long day.

When the class ended, it was time for lunch. Sara, as she said, sat at the Slytherin table. Everyone welcomed her back to the table and started eating immediately. She smiled slightly as Draco plopped down beside her.

"Sara, we need to talk," Draco insisted. Sara glanced his way, but a sight at the Gryffindor table made her head turn. Ron and Hermione were fighting yet again, but this time it was worse. Ron looked like he had really pissed off Hermione this time.

"Ron, I can't believe you just said that! You arrogant, selfish, little prat!" Hermione was so mad she was standing in the middle of the hall, screaming on the top of her lungs. She took a short breath and went to continue when she noticed over a hundred eyes watching her. She slowly sat back down, turning red.

"Sorry, Draco, what were you saying?" Sara asked, not believing what she just witnessed.

"That we need to talk," Draco repeated.

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Sara replied. She looked at Draco silently begging him to start the conversation.

"Did you read the note I gave you?" Draco asked. He continued when he saw her nod. "Well, what I wrote was true. I will change for you."

"You promise?" Sara waited for a nod from Draco then continued. "Good. I'm sorry for being so cold to you the past month."

"Will you go back out with me?" he asked.

"Duh!'

Sara looked around for Danielle and Kristen. She saw Danielle immediately at the Gryffindor table flirting with Harry. Kristen meanwhile, was seated at the Hufflepuff table and flirting with Cedric. Things started looking up for Sara. She knew things were gonna get better now that she didn't have to mope around about Draco.

"Oh, yeah. One more thing. Let me cut your hair," Sara pleaded. Draco blanched at the thought and grabbed the top of his head.

"No! Not my hair! It's a family tradition! You can't touch my hair!" Draco said.

"Geez, you worry about your hair more than girls do," Sara joked loud enough for the whole Slytherin table to hear. Everyone laughed as they started to get up and leave for classes.

It was during History of Magic that everyone involved in teaching Harry Occlumency decided to meet in the Room of Requirement after eating a quick dinner. Once the bell ran and Professor Binns gave the class their homework assignment, everyone joined once again in the Great Hall for dinner.

They ate for no longer than fifteen minutes before they broke off into pairs and head for the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ron had wanted to come, but they needed to work on their homework, especially Ron who left everything for the last minute.

Danielle and Harry were the first ones to arrive. Sara was next and brought Draco, and Kristen arrived five minutes later with Cedric in tow.

"I see that you two brought an extra person," Danielle said looking at Sara and Kristen. "What's up with that?"

"I thought it might be a good idea for Cedric to learn because Voldemort may be after him, now that he's alive," Kristen replied.

"I kind of had the same reason for Draco. He needs to protect himself, especially if he's going to work for the light and hide information from Voldemort," Sara answered.

"Okay, well, I guess there's no sense in standing around. Let's get started," Danielle said.

"Can I split everyone up? Please? Pretty please?" Sara asked. Danielle and Kristen looked at each other and shrugged. Sara took that as a 'yes.'

"Draco, Danielle will be your partner. Harry, Kristen will be your's. Cedric, you have me."

"Why are we doing it like this? Wouldn't it just make more sense to stay with the people who we're comfortable with?" Harry asked.

"No, it wouldn't for many different reasons. One is that you're not going to be comfortable with the person who's trying to enter your mind. Another reason is that we may find out something about each other that we don't know yet," Kristen explained.

"I don't like the sound of that," Cedric said truthfully.

"Well, that's what we're going to work for. We don't want anyone to have access to your memories." The girls waited until their designated partner was facing them. Danielle started to teach.

"Now try to clear your mind and focus on pushing your emotions away. Emotions are a main key to Occlumency. It's through these emotions that allow people access to your memories. That's why you have to do your best to make yourself devoid of all emotion. On the count of three Kristen, Sara, and I will attempt to enter your minds. You may try to push us out any way you can."

"One…two…three…Legilimens!"

It only lasted a few minutes, but it felt much longer than that for both the guys and the girls. Draco sent Danielle flying back a few feet causing her to fall. Kristen and Harry were rubbing their arms, though no damage was noticeable. Somehow Cedric had managed to turn Sara's hair bright purple.

Sara changed her hair color back to her normal brown color. "Well, I guess I know what you and Kristen did during Christmas." Sara laughed when she saw Cedric and Kristen blush.

Kristen had seen a similar thing to what Sara saw. However, she would never voice that she saw her sister being kissed by Harry. Kristen did manage to sneak a look over at Danielle. Danielle noticed and looked over at Harry. They both nodded; it was clear what Kristen saw and they were embarrassed, but there's was nothing they could do about it anyway.

Danielle had the hardest time recovering from what she saw. She saw Draco in his room crying over Sara. She felt bad, but thought it was nice to know that Draco really cared about her cousin. She made a note to tell Sara later.

Danielle cleared her throat. "That…that was good, Draco. Let's try again."

Kristen looked over at Harry. "Your first try wasn't bad, but try not to sting us this time."

"Sorry," apologized Harry as he smiled weakly.

They gave the boys a few minutes to gather themselves before hitting them with the spell. They did a little better, but there was a lot of room for improvement.

Cedric looked at his watch. "It's almost 9 o'clock."

"He's right. We should call it a night. We can decide when to have another meeting sometime tomorrow. It'll probably be only once a week," Sara said.

"And don't forget to practice clearing your mind of all thoughts and emotions before you go to sleep," Kristen added.

They all said their good byes and went to their separate common rooms.

The rest of January flew by for everyone. Harry, Cedric, and Draco had their good days and had their bad days when it came to the Occlumency lessons. The D.A. meetings were along the same lines. Neville was the first to create a patronus, which surprised many, if not all. Soon after, almost everyone else got theirs. When the first week of February was over, only a few people hadn't accomplished it. One of them being Sara. Her cousins had already achieved it; Danielle's was a cat, and Kristen's became a horse.

"Urgh! I can't do this!" Sara yelled, agitated. Harry went over to her, to calm her down.

"Sara, what are you thinking of?" Harry asked, politely. Sara blushed at having to tell Harry.

"Um, well, when Draco and I first kissed," she said completely embarrassed. Harry made a face that fortunately Sara missed.

"That's not good enough," Harry stated. Sara glared at him and he tried explaining without getting her angrier. "What I mean is, when Remus taught me, I used when I first flew on a broom and only got a wisp of smoke. Then I used a more complex thing. It's not a memory, it's just a feeling. I, I used a feeling that I get when I think of my parents." Sara looked sad at hearing that, but grew more confidence in herself.

"I think I got it," she said as she closed her eyes on focused on her feeling. "Expecto Patronum!" A sliver tiger leaped out of her wand as she opened her eyes slowly, hoping something was in front of her. She started jumping up and down when she saw the elegant creature prowling around.

"Way to go, Smiley," Danielle praised.

Before anyone realized, Valentine's Day was there. Sara was the first to announce it, to everyone's shock.

"Can you believe Valentine's Day is tomorrow?" she asked.

"It is?" Kristen replied to her cousin's statement.

"I know. I wouldn't have realized it if I hadn't looked at the calendar this morning. So, what's everyone doing?" Sara asked, slyly. Almost everyone blushed at the thought. Sara just had to giggle at that, especially when Ron and Hermione blushed.

The next morning, everyone went their separate ways. Danielle and Harry went to a cozy tea shop, Kristen and Cedric went to the Three Broomsticks, Ron and Hermione just disappeared, and Sara and Draco took a look inside Honeydukes. When Sara and Draco finally left, after an hour of trying new sweets and buying some, Sara asked Draco if they could go see the Shrieking Shack.

"I've always wanted to see it, and find out if it really is haunted," she told Draco, who willingly took her there. When they reached it, though, they got the surprise of their lives, even though they knew it was going to happen eventually. They just never thought it would happen this soon.

"Oh my gosh!" Sara whispered, trying not to laugh. Her face had turned red from the exertion. On a giant rock, facing the Shrieking Shack, sat Ron and Hermione glued together by the lips. They left as soon as they could so Ron and Hermione would never know they were there. They kept on walking, talking about what they saw, when Sara accidentally ran into someone.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry! Please excuse…Oh, it's just you," she stated when she realized it was Danielle.

"Thanks," Danielle said with a sour expression on her face. "What were you two talking about?" Danielle asked, growing curious. Sara smirked, along with Draco.

"Go to the Shrieking Shack and you'll find out. Oh, by the way, try to be quiet; it doesn't want to be disturbed." They walked away, laughing harder than they were before. Danielle looked at Harry curiously but started walking that way. When they reached their destination, they both had to run away from it to keep from screaming.

"Holy crap! But they fight all the time!" Danielle exclaimed. Harry just shook his head.

Before anyone realized, it was time to go back to the school and then time to go to bed.

The next morning, everyone was sitting at the Gryffindor table when Ron and Hermione walked in and sat down. Sara immediately started.

"So, what did you guys do yesterday?" she asked, trying to look nonchalant.

"We went here and there, you know, just little bit of everything," Ron stated.

"Interesting. That's what Draco and I did. We even went to the Shrieking Shack." Ron's ears became redder than his hair and Hermione hid her face in her hands, completely mortified. "So, are you two going out now?" Sara asked. Ron looked at Hermione, her face still in her hands.

"I dunno, are we?" he asked Hermione. She looked up and shrugged her answer. "I'll take that as a yes," Ron said. Harry, Danielle, Kris, Cedric, Sara and Draco clapped for the new couple.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Sara started as she turned towards Draco. "Where's my ten galleons? We made a bet, remember? C'mon, hand it over." Draco grumbled as he pulled out ten gold coins and handed them to Sara.

"What was the bet for?" Danielle asked. Sara smirked at her.

"I made a bet with him that they would start going out before the year ended. He thought that they wouldn't go out until next year. Don't tell them that though," Sara whispered to Danielle. Luckily, only her older cousin had heard her. Danielle glared at Sara but went on with what she was doing.

That night, only known by Ron, Harry had a vision.

_He was standing in a dark, curtained room lit by a single branch of candles. His hands were clenched on the back of a chair in front of him. They were long-fingered and white as though they had not seen sunlight for years and looked like large, pale spiders against the dark velvet of the chair._

Beyond the chair, in a pool of light cast upon the floor by the candles, knelt a man in black robes.

"I have been badly advised, it seems," said Harry, in a high, cold voice that pulsed with anger.

"Master, I crave your pardon..." croaked the man kneeling on the floor. The back of his head glimmered in the candlelight. He seemed to be trembling.

"I do not blame you, Rookwood," said Harry in that cold, cruel voice.

He relinquished his grip upon the chair and walked around it, closer to the man cowering upon the floor, until he stood directly over him in the darkness, looking down from a far greater height than usual.

"You are sure of your facts, Rookwood?" asked Harry.

"Yes, My Lord, yes. I used to work in the department after-after all..."

"Avery told me Bode would be able to remove it."

"Bode could never have taken it, Master. Bode would have known he could not. Undoubtedly that is why he fought so hard against Malfoy's Imperius Curse."

"Stand up, Rookwood," whispered Harry.

The kneeling man almost fell over in his haste to obey. His face was pockmarked; the scars were thrown into relief by the candlelight. He remained a little stooped when standing, as though halfway through a bow, and he darted terrified looks up at Harry's face.

"You have done well to tell me this," said Harry. "Very well, I have wasted months on fruitless schemes, it seems…But no matter... We begin again, from now. You have Lord Voldemort's gratitude, Rookwood."

"My Lord, yes, My Lord," gasped Rookwood, his voice hoarse with relief.

"I shall need your help. I shall need all the information you can give me."

"Of course, My Lord, of course. Anything..."

Rookwood scurried backward, bowing, and disappeared through a door.

Left alone in the dark room, Harry turned toward the wall. A cracked, age-spotted mirror hung on the wall in the shadows. Harry moved toward it. His reflection grew larger and clearer in the darkness.. A face whiter than a skull, red eyes with slits for pupils…

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Harry yelled as he shot up in his bed, a thin layer of sweat   
covering him.


End file.
